In the past, the majority of walkers have been used for aiding elderly, ambulatory patients in walking, whether in nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, or in their own homes. Traditionally, these walkers consisted of a four-legged frame with front brace. Often, the two rear legs would be capped with spherical, soft accessories (i.e. tennis balls) to inhibit spontaneous, erratic movements and slippage.
Conventional wheelchairs are often employed to help individuals to move, however these offer little benefit in terms of exercise for the legs of the user. To exercise the legs, the aforementioned walkers are frequently used, which users are able to lean on and hold on to as they move about. Walkers such as these cause upper body strain, as the user often must lean heavily on the handles of the walker in order to reduce his or her weight enough to move without severe discomfort. Therefore, there is a need to change this paradigm such that a user need not rely heavily on leaning on a walker in order to move without discomfort.
Prior art allowed for support for elderly patients with compromised use of their lower extremities to hold themselves up with the walker. It also required significant strength in the patient's arms and upper body to lean on the walker to assist their legs. However, prior art failed to provide a means of movement for patients with very limited use of the lower extremities and an inability to balance and hold their upper torso upright. Similar devices have been created for use by children, also known as child walkers. These walkers are conventionally configured with a seat that holds the child at a fixed distance from the ground, whereas the child's legs would dangle below, in contact with the ground. At the bottom, a frame with multiple wheels aids in the movement of the child, for which the child provided propulsion through the use of the legs. The purpose and function of these devices were to prevent a child from falling while learning to walk.
Prior art known to the field has also failed in providing a means of holding up the upper torso of the user's body and allowing users with disabilities in the lower extremities to propel themselves manually. Some prior art attempted to solve the problem of aiding patients with limited faculty in the lower extremities by providing an external source of power (i.e. motorized wheels) that would propel the patient horizontally, however this ignored any potential rehabilitative, therapeutic effects by leaving the patient out of the propulsion process.
Furthermore, prior art also provided a means of supporting the patient's upper torso through use of a height adjustable hoist, however failed to address facilitating the patient's input and/or making it easier for providing horizontal propulsion via the lower extremities for patients. All prior art required that the users full weight be supported by the strength of his or her legs and/or partially supported with the strength of the arms.
Thus, there is a need for a new walker aide device configured to assist the user in moving without the need for his or her weight to be completely supported by the strength of the legs of the individual or the arms of the individual. Such a device is preferably equipped with a telescoping, bicycle-style seat, configured to enable the user to rest a portion of his or her weight on the bicycle-style seat while walking.